MASUDA Reiji (Professor, Director of the Research Station)

Contact: masuda.reiji.3w*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @), +81-773-62-9063 (Phone)
Specialty: Fish psychology
Hobby: diving, tennis, marathon, piano
Research theme:
Fish psychology is a research field that deals with the behavior and ecology of fishes through an approach of experimental psychology. “How do fish maintain a school?”, “How smart can fish be?”, “What will happen to fish populations if jellyfish blooms expand?” Research is often based on questions that arise from diving or talking with fishermen. Rearing experiments are then related to the fluctuation mechanism of pelagic fish stocks. We also conduct experiments and observations applicable to the improvement of releasing strategies in marine stock enhancement.

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KAI Yoshiaki (Associate professor)

Contact: kai.yoshiaki.4c*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @), +81-773-62-9079 (Phone)
Specialty: Fish systematics
Hobby: Bass guitar
Research theme:
Fishes constitute more than one-half of the total number of living vertebrate species, exhibiting enormous diversity in morphology and ecology. In Japan, about 3800 species are recognized as valid species. We try to understand and describe their diversity and estimate how they have speciated and evolved by morphological and genetic (mtDNA and AFLPs, and so on) analyses.
1. Systematics of rockfishes, snailfises, and lumpsuckers
2. Phylogeography focusing on fishes of the Sea of Japan

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SUZUKI Keita (Assistant professor)

Contact: suzuki.keita.3r*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @), +81-773-62-9094 (Phone)
Specialty: Coastal and estuarine ecology
Hobby: jogging, swimming, hiking
Research theme:
Coastal and estuarine areas are characterized by many anthropogenic modifications as well as high natural productivity. Water pollution, shore protection, land reclamation, dredging, etc. are threatening the survival of coastal and estuarine organisms. I study the ecology of fish and crustaceans, specifically their distribution, feeding habits, growth, and survival during the early life stages when they are vulnerable to environmental changes. I aim at finding our way of living with coastal and estuarine organisms on the basis of the understanding of their life histories.
1. Ecology of larval and juvenile fish
Early life history (e.g. migration, feeding, growth, survival) is key to understand essential environmental conditions for successful reproduction in each fish species.
2. Ecology of zooplankton
The ecology of copepods and mysids (e.g. position maintenance, feeding, growth, survival) is key to understand zooplankton production underlying fish production.
3. Production relative to environmental fluctuations
The dynamics of coastal and estuarine production can be explained by environmental fluctuations on various temporal scales (e.g. climate change, seasonal change, fortnightly tidal cycle).

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HENMI Yumi (Assistant professor)

Contact: henmi.yumi.7c*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @), +81-773-62-9076 (Phone)
Specialty: Symbiotic ecology
Hobby: playing with my cats, bird watching
Research theme:

1. Ecological studies of inquilinism
Ecological aspects of gobies and crustaceans living in animal burrows in marine sediments are studied through field observations and laboratory experiments.
2. Burrow morphology
The burrow morphology of host animals is the key to understand the host-symbiont interaction in burrow inquilinism.

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TAKAHASHI Kohji (Assistant professor)

Contact: takahashi.kohji.5n*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @)
Specialty: Cognitive science of fish
Hobby: planning of experiment, playing in the sea or rivers
Research theme:

(1) Cognitive ecology
Fish live in various environment, and they should behave adaptively in their environment. I study whether they equip adaptive cognition in response to their environment. In particular, I focus on their cognitive ability relative to anthropogenic environmental changes.

(2) 　Educational psychology in fish
Fish are often considered to have lower cognitive ability than other vertebrates. However, recent studies find that they have ability comparable to human cognitive ability. I expect psychological development processes common to fish and human, and feedback from fish psychology to human psychology.

(3) Fisheries psychology
Fish are utilized for food and pet in human society. Understanding of fish behavior and cognition would be applied to effective fishing and rearing. I am trying to develop fisheries technology from the viewpoint of fish cognitive science.

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ITO Takeshi (Assistant professor)

Contact: ito.takeshi.4p*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @)
Specialty: Evolutionary ecology
Hobby: fishing, insect collecting, playing the piano
Research theme:

Sperm function is simple―swimming to an egg and fertilizing it. However, sperm morphology and motility are highly variable. My aim is to reveal the evolution of sperm traits, mainly focused on “fertilization mode” (i.e., external vs. internal fertilization) and “different levels of sperm competition” in which sperm from different males compete with each other for fertilization.

1. To reveal sperm evolution in marine Cottidae.
Marine cottidae have both externally and internally fertilizing species within close relatives. In addition, sperm competition levels are diverse. I study the adaptation of sperm to these different environments, from the viewpoint of morphology, motility, fine structure, genome, and protein.
2. To reveal a general rule of sperm evolution in fish.
In addition to Cottidae, there are several taxa that include both externally and internally fertilizing species among closely related species. I would like to clarify the general rule of sperm evolution by focusing on the homology in these species, whether it is similar or different from that of Cottidae.

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YAMASHITA Yoh (Emeritus professor)

Contact: yamashita.yoh.4c*kyoto-u.ac.jp (replace * by @)
Specialty: Coastal marine ecology
Hobby: fishing, cheering for Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (Japanese professional baseball team)
Research theme:

I study how watershed environments and human activities affect the ecology of organisms, structure of biological production, and biodiversity in lower reaches, estuarine and coastal areas of rivers. This leads to the interdisciplinary study Connectivity of Hills, Humans and Oceans (CoHHO), which investigates integrated watershed and coastal management to recover richness and wellness in aquatic environments. At present, I focus on the ecological significance of the upstream migration of adult temperate seabass Lateolabrax japonicus.

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